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Northwest strikes back
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September 2, 1998: 7:36 p.m. ET
Airline to lay off 28,000 workers, cancels flights through Labor Day
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Northwest Airlines laid off more than half its work force on Wednesday while a federal mediator tried to revive talks between striking pilots and the airline.
Those affected by the layoffs include 11,000 flight attendants, 11,500 ground crews and gate staff, and 5,500 technical staff.
Northwest, the fourth-largest U.S. carrier, also announced it will cancel all flights through the Labor Day weekend.
Some 6,200 Northwest Airlines pilots walked off the job over the weekend, demanding higher pay. The pilots claim they gave up millions of dollars in contract concessions in 1993 to help the airline avert bankruptcy.
Now that the airline's balance sheet is back on solid footing, they say, it's time for them to be rewarded with "industry-leading" pay raises.
Northwest says it is still struggling financially and is unable to raise the bar in terms of pilot salaries.
Although the leader of the pilots union and the head of Northwest Airlines met in Washington Tuesday, the two sides have not formally negotiated since last week.
However, the National Mediation Board, which has overseen the 23-month negotiation process, said it has called representatives from Northwest and the union to an exploratory meeting on Saturday to test whether any flexibility was possible.
"The meeting could turn into a negotiating meeting, but we are not creating false expectations," said NMB spokesman Jim Armshaw.
Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater, who hosted the meeting at the Department of Transportation, said he would ask a federal mediator to get involved, but President Clinton was not ready to intervene.
Shares of Northwest Airlines (NWAC) fell 3/16 Wednesday to 27-13/16 on the Nasdaq.
--from staff and wire reports
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